Havok Publishing

S12 - Multiversal

The Maplebark Inn

The inn had the pulsing, frenetic ambience of an auction house. Wall clocks and mantel clocks began crying like babies as they one by one struck 11:24.
Phezz groaned. Another excruciating morning. “I can’t hear myself think!”
“You could always leave,” the late Lord Pompington said. “Leave my inn!” His wispy form didn’t match

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A Simple Repair

I’m a sucker for a sob story and a fuzzy face. These stinking adorable Pandeera pups blinking their big eyes at me are going to get my tail in the fire, I just know it.
Over the chatter of the pub, they tell me their hovership’s chargelink got sheared off while navigating through a

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The Quest That Led to Gouda

“Mama?” a scared, little voice called.
Phezznibbet Maplebark’s ears twitched, his paw closing around the bottom knife in his bandolier. He poked his head around the slimy dumpster that hid him. At the front of the alleyway stood a figure not much smaller than himself. It didn’t appear threatening, so he took a few

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A Tracker and A Thief

“If Ashe wanted to convince him, she would have to face him alone.”
The Narrator in her head, her “magic,” spoke. The voice narrated events around her periodically, granting her insights she had no right to possess. She hesitated outside the entrance to Canopy’s sole tree-top lodge, The Maplebark Inn. Its owner would complete

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The WolfCon Gambit

“For too long, the pigs have slammed the door on us wolves. They’ve got us by the chinny-chin-chin!” Burly gray wolf Bigsby Badham paces the stage in a huff before a towering jumbotron showing the rotating logo of his company, Wolf Works. “But this is the year we blow them away!”
The auditorium erupts

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Double Gloucester

Phezznibbet stood on his hind legs and inhaled the scent. Buttery. Rich. Definitely cheese.
But what type?
He sniffed again. It lacked the tangy scent of Roquefort and didn’t have Juustoleipa’s sweet reindeer undertones. Maybe an aged cheddar?
As if on cue, a grumble echoed through his midsection. He was supposed to meet his

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Soul Engine

Phezz retrieved the last vial of poison from his belt. His mother had ceremoniously extracted the venomous substance from the tusks of his family’s herd of hairy and tortoise-like Jamjins for hunting. It seemed like a lifetime ago. During the peaceful times—before the Last Battle—before his brother activated the planet’s core defense

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Saving Wildlife… One Squirrel at a Time

If newspaper headlines could scream, this screech would be heard on my home planet.
Cash Reward for Bronx Kids Who Attempted to Kill Squirrel.
What monsters would reward someone for attacking helpless creatures? Earth-Humans, apparently. No surprise. Their cruelty is known throughout the universe.
I was here to stop it. I had to act

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The Negotiator

I swing to a higher branch, the beast’s massive jaws nearly closing on my tail. Gnashing teeth and fiery eyes lunge high—higher than I’d calculated—sharp claws scrabbling at bark. I’m out of reach, barely, and my fingers itch to slash at it with one of my blades downward to ensure my escape.

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Larceny and Limburger

Phezznibbet tucked his tail away from the edge of the bell tower. The market below rang with the clamor of eager merchants and haggling buyers―plenty of noise already without the ineludible racket of Big People spotting a Xintixa. Between those cheering for some exploit and others screeching in confusion at the sight of him

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Dr. Null Vs. Secret Lair

“I can’t believe her!” Dr. Null paced at the lair’s front door. “She said she thought this lair was perfect for us, but she forgot to mention the colony of warmongering squirrels?”
“Calm down, Your Emptiness,” Inferno quipped. “We’ll just evict the Xintixa and the lairs is ours. No wonder the price is low;

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G is for Astronomy

Given his lifetime as a master chef of interplanetary travel, Gurfin knew there was always magic in his ingredients. But this time, he did not know, nor did he really care, where they would land after the wormhole eventually opened.
Some recipes required mastery—others he created simply to taste. The stew before him

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